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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another enjoyable novel from Mr. Hassler,
By A Customer
This review is from: Dean's List (Mass Market Paperback)
Mr. Hasslers's books are always a treat to read, and this one is no exception. He combines humor and wry observation to amuse us, while at the same time making us think about the serious matters in life. Comparisons to Russo's Straight Man and Smiley's Moo are inevitable. Dean's List struck me as less humorous than these two novels but still had plenty of humor. As always Hassler excells with characterization, although I thought the college president too stupid to be real (at least I hope so). The characters from the retirement center were superb. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone who enjoys intelligent fiction. All five of the Hassler novels I have read so far have been wonderful. North of Hope continues to be my personal favorite.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Find a comfortable chair, put up your feet, and enjoy!,
By
This review is from: The Dean's List (Hardcover)
There's a comfortable "old-shoeness" to picking up a Hassler novel. One doesn't read Hassler primarily for the plots, though they are sometimes dramatic and always include a grande finale. Rather, one reads him for his wry depictions of ordinary humans and for his gentle, but trenchant observations about midwestern, middleclass, or academic life. The Dean's List is a sequel to Rookery Blues, and it is helpful, but not necessary, to have read that. Though the plot line here is not as insistent as in some of his other novels, one doesn't really care. Who can read this book and not be amused by characters like Dot, "traumatized in...youth by the Great Depression," a woman who "hangs up her used paper towels to dry." The annual fund-raiser dinner at the Hi-Rise housing for the elderly is a classic-- collecting funds to build rest room facilities on the main floor so that residents "caught short" won't have to go upstairs to their apartments to find relief. Lolly Edwards's planning and attending her own full-blown wake so that she can see her friends and out-of-town relatives and hear all her eulogies is so remarkable one wonders why more people don't do it! I loved every minute of this book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Minnesota Blues,
This review is from: Dean's List (Mass Market Paperback)
I have not read Hassler's "Rookery Blues," but after finishing "Dean's List" this morning, I plan to start "Blues" by nightfall. Hassler's story stays with you even when you're not reading him--the mark of a good writer. Although much of the book is suffused with a melancholic, wintry mood, it is also greatly funny at times. The malapropic hockey coach is particularly hilarious. On the down side, there may be just a few too many extended-family characters than necessary, and it is hard to believe that the protagonist, approaching 60 years of age, is genuinely such a "mama's boy"! Also, the protagonist's second marriage at the end seems a little forced, as we learned comparatively little about his new wife during the main part of the book. On the plus side, Hassler's story keeps the reader involved, and his inclusion of poems by the fictional, aging poet, Robert Falcon, adds a nice touch of realism. I would also truly love to see hordes of people come out to see a beloved poet, as happens in the book. In short, "Dean's List" is engaging without being overwrought. I'd especially recommend it for anyone who is or has been in academia in the 1990s. Hassler, much like Richard Russo in "Straight Man," manages to poke fun at higher education while also eliciting a certain amount of respect for it.
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